Posted on 06/01/2011 6:57:16 PM PDT by Libloather
I saved that for 5 years. My daughter got hers two years prior for 50k. I was doing very well and my wife’s business was doing very well. We had our retirement put away, my cars were paid off, I had no credit cards and m kids had money for school. Then one day I get the call to come up to HR and to bring the Box that was packed for me that morning.
It was at that point I realized I had two choices. Fight back or eat my S&W. I chose to fight. Since 2008 I have missed over 16 months of work. And I never missed a payment! Smaller house, smaller cars, smaller dinners.
And I am happy.
I have 5 acres an hour away from my house. Crops that can look after themselves go on the land, and my family agreed to let me build 3 big garden beds at the house. I recently got a new job and have been using a big chunk of my paycheck to pay down debts, with a percentage budgeted toward self-reliance investments. I have a pressure canner and a dehydrator to put up the harvest with. There are lots of rabbits in the neighborhood, and bolas aren’t covered by the local hunting restrictions >:)
I know where the nearest stands of hickory nuts are, and where the crabapples are big enough and sweet enough to eat fresh. The front yard is full of strawberries and wonderberries.
I’ve been studying self-sufficiency since I was a kid. Not because I was afraid of some kind of disaster, but simply because I think it’s fun. I’m weird that way. I’m looking forward to having my house built on my land, so I can live that way just because.
(PS: for those of you who are looking for a job, my employer is hiring: http://www.alpineaccess.com )
Yep saw this crap coming in December ‘07.
Cut all spending in half.
Wife went to work.
I took on second job.
Went Dave Ramsey on speed.
Took on counteracting goals: stockpile cash and pay off cards. Called the card issuers and told them to reduce our rates by half or else we would pay them off immediately. They complied. Now we are in a “safe” place. Still have a job and continuing to pile up cash for when the SHTF.
Kids are taking jobs this summer working odd jobs and working for themselves learning how to work for themselves.
Screw DC we will make it no matter what.
I am glad you are happy but it still doesn’t explain $50K on a one time event for a child. No matter WHAT the financial situation was at the time.
Like I said, I just don’t understand.
It doesn’t mean I am suggesting you have made any kind of “wrong” decision. It is just a decision I can’t understand.
Lots of good advice here, so I’ll add only one suggestion: burn wood for heating if you can. If you can’t get wood off your property, people often give away small quantities, which you can accumulate over time. Check the “Free” section of craigslist (which, btw, is good for all manner of freebies). Also, the National Forest Service sometimes offers low-cost permits for taking wood from National Forests.
OK — what the heck is a “wonderberry?”
It sounds like something packed in with Capt Crunch... :)
I own a 1987 VW GTI. Babe magnet - just as long as they're 50!
I am sorry for your troubles.
There are worse things than family LoL
They can be a hedge against the cold.
Exactly I had to do that while I was on disability. I never tended to max it out but I had to while I was waiting for my disability check, now I’m trying to pay it off.
I’ve agonized over the whole hyperinflation thing, as clearly being out of dollars and in commodities (and debt) is what to do if that hits.
But I keep coming back to the thought that if wages don’t also rise as inflation goes up the economy implodes anyway, as no one can buy anything as prices badly outpace their earnings. And wages can’t rise much, because of the global marketplace and the ease with which jobs can be relocated to a cheaper labor market.
So, IMHO we’re headed for a deflationary depression, eventually, once Bernanke and Friends fail at inflating the enconomy. And for one of those you want to be in cash.
I do reserve the right to be wrong, and to remortgage the house ;).
LQ
” Maybe you predate those laws...?”
I was 8 in 1945.
I never paid any attention to those stupid child labor laws anyway.
I went to work plastering when I was 14 so I could buy and build a 40 ford street racer by the time I was 16.
When you are 6’ tall at 11 no one questions your age, all you have to do is keep your mouth shut and get to work!
If I hadn’t saved, when I came home with my license on my 16th birthday and my dad demanded my insurance policy or the keys I wouldn’t have had the $600 for the policy he demanded. To protect his business he wouldn’t allow me on his policy and I had to have 100k liability which was a whole bunch in 1952. I only pay $870 a year for insurance on my truck and my wifes Lexus today.
>>Kids are taking jobs this summer working odd jobs and working for themselves learning how to work for themselves.<<
I assume it is redundant to emphasize that ALL children should be taught to cook and sew as soon as they can lift a bowl or thread a needle.
Those simple skills served me well my entire life.
Damn man, you keep the faith. We will be here for ya.
>>I was 8 in 1945.<<
You don’t just predate those laws, you predate CHILDHOOD! ;)
>>When you are 6’ tall at 11 no one questions your age, all you have to do is keep your mouth shut and get to work!<<
When you are 6’ tall at 11 I am surprised no one shoved a basketball in your hands. When you are 4’ 6” at 11, life treats you a little differently...
It sounds like you were bound and determined from an early start.
As was I (graduated HS a year early, had a long working history by the time I was 16, etc.). But your experience was in a far different world.
It takes some practice ... keep at it. :)
Actually, if you really care, I use a Remington Model HC-815 electric, with a 1/2” gate for the top and 1/4” on the sides, neck with no gate. Takes 5 minutes over the sink, toss the hair into the commode, wash the rest down the drain, then I get into the shower for clean up. I figure the $25 I spent on the Remington has saved me hundreds over the years.
Of course, it’s one “style” of cut only doing it this way.
Started teaching the kinders how to cook at age 3.
How to fix wounds on themselves as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Now my kids are 16 and 14. They can be trusted to run the house for a weekend, grocery shop for the week, wash the clothes and dishes and get their butts in bed by a decent time. Didn’t reward them, just expected it out of them and they perform. Raising them through Catholic schools. Taught them rough camping. They are learing everything I can teach them before they turn 18. Both my parents died before I was 21, so it is very important to me to educate them as much as possible and as fast as possible. Being a Boy Scout and an Marine has a lot to do with that as well, but we are making it fun for them and in the long run, I would have raised two very self reliant people. Hopefully they will pay it back by raising kids like that of their own.
>>That’s stuid!<<
I 100% promise I won’t say a thing about that post. Not a word.
;)
I was reading a book recently — I think your approach would be called “Heinleinian.”
And that is a badge of great distinction. It is sad so few people today teach their kids self-sufficiency.
Mine came from relative poverty and a big family — you work, you cook, you sew, you do what is needed, because you have to.
And my Mom always made sure we knew what we needed to know and took the time to make sure we knew it right.
I was also a Boy Scout and THOSE lessons have served me well, even after all these years.
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